Young Man, Please Learn From My Mistakes

Tonight, I was asked to speak at the Eastern Iowa JDRF Walk Kickoff banquet. I was ready to get teams motivated and share some of the things that our team was doing to help raise funds for the cure. However, tonight I got rattled.

On the way into Cedar Rapids, we had to stop in at the local gas station and fill up the tank. As I filled the tank, one of our friends approached us. We haven't seen this woman around for a while and it was very nice to see her again. She started telling us about her 14 year old son, who is a type 1 diabetic.

Now I have been working with this young man for a few years now. I have started by developing a relationship with him with the intent of getting him to become active in JDRF. Not for my benefit, but for his. I have tried and tried, but still cannot get him interested in JDRF. He is a great kid, just has no interest in JDRF. I continue to try, but he will not budge.

So his mother starts to tell us that her son is fed up with diabetes and doesn't want to do doctors appointments or anything that has to do with taking care of himself. I was heartbroken.

I understand what this young man is going through. I understand his frustration. I can identify with his disgust.

So as I sat through the banquet tonight, I could not stop thinking about this young man. I was rattled.

So it was my time to speak and suddenly I found that my focus was blurred and the words that were meant to come out of my mouth were no longer there. So I shared my meeting with this young man's mother to the audience. I explained to them that I had a heavy heart because a young man that I care about was already experiencing feelings of hopelessness with diabetes. I was a teenager with diabetes and acted on my hopeless feelings by choosing to ignore my diabetes. A decision that I am paying for now.

I have to figure out a way for this young man to learn from my mistakes so that he doesn't have to pay for them later in life. I have to figure out a way that this young man can avoid hospital stays, eye troubles and a possible heart attack. I have to motivate him to take care of himself so that he can achieve his goals later in life.

This just reinforced my purpose for advocating for a cure. I get disgusted at the fact that a young man in my community already feels hopeless. That's not the way to live your life. Knowing this young man and the potential that he has to do great things in his lifetime propels my motivation for the cure.

This disease never gets any easier. Tonight, I stared out into a crowd that was made up of diabetic children and their families. Each family has their story. Each family has their fight. Innocent children fighting an unforgivable disease. It's difficult not to get a bit emotional, but these kids are tough and will never stop fighting.